What the bourgeois calls a slight distraction, from 'The good bourgeois,' published in "Le Charivari"
August 30, 1846
Medium
Lithograph on wove paper; second state of two (Delteil)
Dimensions
Image: 10 3/16 × 8 7/16 in. (25.8 × 21.5 cm) Sheet: 14 1/8 × 10 13/16 in. (35.9 × 27.5 cm)
Classification
Prints
Department
Drawings and Prints
Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, NY
Credit
Rogers Fund, 1922
Accession Number
22.61.14
Tags
About this artwork
This lithograph satirizes bourgeois hypocrisy and moral complacency through a scene depicting what the middle-class protagonist euphemistically describes as a "slight distraction." The image captures Daumier's gift for social observation and his ability to expose the gap between bourgeois pretensions to respectability and their actual behavior. The composition employs expressive caricature to reveal character through physiognomy, gesture, and situation, creating humor while delivering pointed so...
About the Artist
Honoré Daumier|Aubert et Cie|Aubert et Cie · 1810–1879
Honoré-Victorin Daumier (1808-1879) was a prolific French printmaker, caricaturist, painter, and sculptor whose works offered incisive commentary on the social and political life of 19th-century France. Known as the 'Michelangelo of Caricature,' Daumier produced over 4,000 lithographs, 500 paintings, 1,000 drawings, and 100 sculptures during his lifetime. His biting political satire led to his imp...